Ball batting paddle

ABSTRACT

Apparatus including a ball attached by a cord midway between a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces is disclosed. Handles are provided on the apparatus for maneuvering it so that the ball may be batted from one ball batting surface to the other.

United States Patent 1 Wininger [541 BALL BATTING PADDLE [76] Inventor: Charles W. Wininger, 1691 N.

Garden Drive, Apt. 13, San Bernardino, Calif. 92404 [22] Filed: Aug. 2, 1971 211 Appl; No.: 168,059

[52] US. Cl...... .l ..273/97 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 67/10 [58] Field of Search ..273/95 R, 95 A, 96 R, 97, 98

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Singer. ..273 97 R ]March 20, 1973 2,540,918 2/1951 Utes ..273/96 R 2,950,113 8/1960 Barnack 3,606,322 9/1971 Kersch ..273/95 R Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney-Huebner & Worrel 57 ABSTRACT Apparatus including a ball attached by a cord midway between a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces is disclosed. Handles are provided on the apparatus for maneuvering it so that the ball may be batted from one ball batting surface to the other.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BALL BATTING PADDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to games and more particularly to games of the type requiring skill and coordination.

Heretofore, children as well as others have found it amusing as well as difficult to try to control the bouncing of a ball. One prior art game which was very popular consisted of a paddle having a ball secured'thereto by a resilient cord. The object of this game was to bat the ball with the paddle in such a manner so that the resilient cord would return the ball to the paddles surface. Thereby the ball could be rebatted. The test of the skill of this game was to see how many times one could consecutively bat the ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved ball batting game which is even more amusing and requires even more skill than the prior art games.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide an improved ball batting game apparatus for playing a game the object of which is to sequentially bat a ball between spaced apart surface areas.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved game apparatus characterized by including a ball attached midway between a pair of spaced apart interconnected ball batting surfaces so that a game may be played the object of which is to bat the ball between these surfaces.

In accomplishing these and other objects, there is provided apparatus including a ball attached by a cord midway between a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces. At least one handle is provided on the ap paratus so that with a degree of skill and coordination the ball may be batted from one ball batting surface to the other.

Additional objects of the present invention reside in the specific construction of the exemplary apparatus hereinafter particularly described in the specification and shown in the several drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a game apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the game apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the apparatus of I FIG. 1 taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings, the apparatus 11 is preferably structurally formed so that its ball batting surfaces 13, rigid interconnecting member 15 and handles 17 are all mode of one unitary planar piece of material, such as by being cut from a flat piece of rigid material like wood. Further, the surfaces 13 are preferably larger than the width of the interconnecting member 15 so that in the plan view, as shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus 11 looks much like a dumbbell. The bandles 17 preferably extend or project from the same sides of the ball batting portions 13 in directions substantially perpendicular to an imaginary line drawn between the center points of the batting surfaces 13 and the longitudinal axis of the interconnecting member 15 preferably is coincident with this imaginary line.

Attached substantially midway between the ball batting portions 13 is one end of a cord or string 19.

The cord or line 19 may be secured, for example, to an eye bolt or screw 21. The eye 21 is shown in the drawings screwed centrally into one side of the interconnecting member 15. Secured on the other end of the cord 19 is a ball 23 which is preferably made of a resilient rubber. The cord 19 is preferably dimensioned to have a predetermined length which measured from the eye 21 is not less than the distance to the nearest portion of the batting surfaces 13 but not greater than the .distance to the most remote portion of the batting surfaces 13. Thereby, as the ball 23 is batted from one surface 13 to the other, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 1, the cord 19 will act to guide the course of the balls travel so that the ball will land upon the batting surfaces 13.

Thus, a game of skill has been provided for play by one individual which requires a measure of skill and coordination. To play, the player grips the apparatus 1 l with both hands at the handles 17 and maneuvers the apparatus 11 to bat the ball 23 back and forth between the surface areas 13.

It is noted that the batting surfaces 13, interconnecting member 15 and handles 17 may be made of wood, plastic, metal or any other suitable rigid material. Also, the ball 23 may be made of rubber or any other suitable material so that it may be batted or knocked from one batting area 13 to the other. Further, it is conceivable that the cord 19 could be made of an elastic material although in the preferred form of the invention the cord 19 is made of a non-elastic material. Additionally, it is noted that the batting surfaces 13 may be made in other than circular shapes but should preferably provide enlarged areas in comparison to the size of the ball 23, the interconnecting member 15 and the handles 17. The batting portions 13 also may be made to be slightly concave instead of planar or could be made in any other form suitable for batting the ball 23 from one surface 13 to the other.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A game apparatus, comprising:

structure defining a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces in the same plane, said structure also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend in the plane of said batting surfaces from the same sides of said batting surfaces;

a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces but less than the distance to the most remote portion of said batting surfaces; and

a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said structure is formed by a unitary piece of material.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said batting surfaces are substantially circularly shaped.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein one of said spaced apart handles defined by said structure is connected with each of said batting surface.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said cord is non-elastic.

6. A game apparatus, comprising:

structure defining a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces, said batting surfaces being substantially circular planar surfaces lying in the sake plane, said structure being formed by a unitary piece of rigid planar material and also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend from the same sides of said batting surfaces in directions substantially perpendicular to an imaginary line drawn between the center points of said batting surfaces;

a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord being nonelastic and having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces but less than the distance to the most remote portion of said batting surfaces; and

a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces.

7. A game apparatus, comprising:

structure defming a pair of spaced apart ball batting surfaces lying in the same plane, said structure also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend in the plane of said batting surfaces therefrom;

a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces; and

a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces. 

1. A game apparatus, comprising: structure defining a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces in the same plane, said structure also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend in the plane of said batting surfaces from the same sides of said batting surfaces; a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces but less than the distance to the most remote portion of said batting surfaces; and a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said structure is formed by a unitary piece of material.
 3. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said batting surfaces are substantially circularly shaped.
 4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein one of said spaced apart handles defined by said structure is connected with each of said batting surface.
 5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said cord is non-elastic.
 6. A game apparatus, comprising: structure defining a pair of interconnected ball batting surfaces, said batting surfaces being substantially circular planar surfaces lying in the sake plane, said structure being formed by a unitary piece of rigid planar material and also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend from the same sides of said batting surfaces in directions substantially perpendicular to an imaginary line drawn between the center points of said batting surfaces; a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord being non-elastic and having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces but less than the distance to the most remote portion of said batting surfaces; and a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces.
 7. A game apparatus, comprising: structure defining a pair of spaced apart ball batting surfaces lying in the same plane, said structure also defining a pair of spaced apart handles which extend in the plane of said batting surfaces therefrom; a cord attached at one of its ends to said structure at a point on said structure substantially midway between said batting surfaces, said cord having a predetermined length measured from its point of attachment to said structure greater than the distance to the nearest portion of said batting surfaces; and a ball secured to the other end of said cord so that the ball may be batted between said batting surfaces. 